The present invention relates to point-of-sale transactions, and is particularly directed to a transaction system and a method of conducting a point-of-sale transaction between a merchant and a consumer using a wireless platform.
The use of a wireless platform to conduct a point-of-sale (POS) transaction between a merchant and a consumer buying goods from the merchant is known. Typically, in the known wireless platforms, after wireless communication is established between the merchant and the consumer, the consumer provides the merchant with consumer-specific information so that the merchant can authenticate the transaction through an institution, such as a bank or a third party broker, to effect payment for the goods purchased by the consumer. When the merchant receives the consumer-specific information from the consumer, the merchant communicates with the institution to authenticate the transaction. The consumer-specific information provided by the consumer typically includes a person identification number (PIN), account details, and/or personal data, for examples.
A concern for some consumers in using the known wireless platforms to conduct a POS transaction is that these consumers may not feel secure when providing merchants with certain consumer-specific information. These consumers may be concerned about identity theft, for example. It would be desirable to provide a wireless platform on which a consumer can conduct a POS transaction with a merchant without having to disclose certain consumer-specific information to the merchant.